The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has announced that its military will conduct live-fire exercises in all waters of Taiwan after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived on the island.
China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency released a statement from the CCP’s military arm, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), saying it would conduct live-fire exercises in six separate spaces on all sides of the island.
Airplanes and ships are “forbidden” from entering the six regions and may be designed to interfere with international shipping lanes.
Both Chinese and US military assets have been maneuvering in waters around Taiwan since last week, PLA units are conducting another exercise in the Yellow Sea north of Taiwan, and the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier is on the move. doing free patrols.
taiwan media report The plane from the PLA crossed the Taiwan Strait shortly after Pelosi’s much-touted arrival in Taipei on Tuesday, where the Chinese Communist Party is actively protesting the threat of military action.
China’s foreign ministry said the visit to Taiwan was a “serious violation” of China’s “One China Policy” and that the United States was on a “wrong and dangerous path”.
U.S. leaders say they are in no way trying to change the status quo and that the CCP is acting aggressively and out of control.
“We knew from the beginning that she [Pelosi] Making her own decisions, Congress is an independent branch of government,” John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House, said Monday. incorporates.”
“We will not take bait, we will not honk our sabers.At the same time, we will not be afraid. .”
Kirby also stressed that the Chinese Communist Party leadership knew that the visit would not result in any meaningful change in US policy.
“This is well known in China. [People’s Republic of China]given our more than 40 years of diplomatic relations,” Kirby said. So, I visited Taiwan before without incident.”
China’s use of aggressive rhetoric and live-fire training around Taiwan has been condemned by the White House, which has described such efforts as destabilizing.
Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific affairs, said on July 27 that such provocations would only increase the likelihood of a catastrophic accident between the United States, China and Taiwan.
“If the PLA continues this kind of action, it is only a matter of time before there are serious incidents and accidents in the region,” Ratner said.
follow
Andrew Thornbrook is a reporter for The Epoch Times, covering China-related issues with a focus on defense, military and national security. He has an MA in Military History from Norwich University.